Grand Finale & Goodbyes

Jordy busy making bunting

Welcome back to Tiggy, where it’s been all hands on deck for the Tigoung Nonma Open Day. It goes without saying that we’re all exhausted, after the last month and a half spent on preparations for the big day. The real business started the day before, when Tiggy’s catering service ladies started making the food for the next day, staying until 11pm to get it all ready! The volunteers also worked late making bunting and baking banana cake to sell. It was great to see lots of Tiggy’s members getting together to work towards the event. After a good night’s sleep, we headed to Tiggy at 8am where preparations were already going strong and the aroma of meat brochettes was filling the street. The next few hours were spent doing some last minute preparations and then, at 11.00 bang on the dot, the first guests arrived. 

Our initial plan was for a mini-open day, but before we knew it, the place was swarming with visitors, and food was being sold at a startling pace – by the end of the day it was all sold out, banana cake and all! Visitors also took advantage of the artisan demonstrations, including Evariste’s personalised leather bracelets, as well as the henna tattoos and hair styling by Clémentine and Fatimata. The atmosphere cranked up a notch when one of the members wowed the visitors with his incredible dancing skills, accompanied by ground-shaking Afro-beats organised by ‘DJ (Francis) Fancani’. 

Volunteers enjoying the food!

Everyone played their part in making sure that the day went smoothly. Salman and Achille were on the drinks, Jordy, Esther and Rumbie helped take people’s orders and manned the cake stand, whilst Mary proved her worth in salesmanship, and Francis did some inspirational MC-ing. All the while we were selling products left right and centre, and by the end of the day we had made a whopping 505,975 CFA in total, that’s £613, making it the most successful open day to date. Not bad for a supposedly ‘mini open day’! 

Vice President Evariste being interviewed for Savane FM

Another high point of the day was a visit from a Savane FM presenter, who interviewed some of the members for a media coverage exclusive which was aired the next day on the radio!  The volunteers and the members alike are thrilled with the way the day went, and we are pleased that our efforts during the day have both raised awareness about the organisation and disability, and gained much-needed funds to sustain TN’s activities and its members. 

 

Overall, it was a fantastic way to end our 3 months at Tiggy, and a special day that won’t be forgotten.

All that’s left is to say thank you Tiggy, we’ll miss you! ... and to wish the best of luck to the next team leader, Alice, and her team. They have a great 3 months to look forward to. 

That’s all from us in cohort 9. Bilfou!

Cohort 9 volunteers with the TN team